Leadership of Dain Torpy
Charles N. Le Ray
Director and Shareholder
Charles N. Le Ray is a founding partner of Dain, Torpy, Le Ray, Wiest & Garner, P.C. He represents developers and owners of commercial real estate with complex land use, permitting, regulatory compliance, and environmental projects. His expertise is deepest in zoning, wetlands, MEPA, and site remediation. He also represents clients in administrative law and land use litigation matters and has experience negotiating project agreements and settlement agreements with project municipalities, project neighbors and opponents, and regulators.
Before co-founding this firm, Mr. Le Ray was an attorney with Goodwin Procter, LLP in Boston for over eleven years.
Representative Matters
- Representing developer of speculative, two-building 500,000 sf suburban office/life sciences project in connection with local and state permitting and MEPA review.
- Representing developer/owner/operator in phased redevelopment of suburban research campus into ~700,000 sf of office/life sciences space, ~400,000 sf of structured parking, and a boutique hotel in connection with local and state permitting, MEPA review (including Phase I waiver for 150,000 sf building), wetlands permitting, and associated litigation.
- Represented urban developer in efforts to rezone and permit large mixed-use project in Cambridge.
- Representing developer of large-scale, ground-mounted solar photovoltaic projects in several communities in connection with permitting and litigation relating to project approvals.
- Represented owner of ~800,000 sf urban office/research campus in connection with rezoning, master plan special permit, and various leasing matters.
- Represented developer of proposed Region 1 casino project in connection with rezoning, negotiating Host Community and Surrounding Community agreements, and arbitration with two adjacent towns.
- Represented premier Cape Cod resort developer in connection with obtaining Land Court approval of subdivisions and other plans, drafting village declarations and homeowners’ association bylaws, easements, and related documents, wetlands permitting, and MEPA.
- Representing private schools in connection with expansion plans.
Professional Activities and Honors
- 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®
- Rated 2023, 2024 Top Lawyer by Boston Magazine
- Named “Lawyer of the Year” for Land Use and Zoning – Boston by The Best Lawyers in America 2023 Edition
- Founding member of Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts Land Use and Zoning Law Section; Member of REBA Board of Directors (2007-2013)
- Member of Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional
- Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honor Society
Publications and Presentations
- Author, Land Court Commentaries (Land Court Reporter, quarterly 2020-present)
- Author, Zoning in Boston chapter of Handbook of Massachusetts Land Use (Mark Bobrowski, 5th ed.)
- Co-author, Drafting Commercial Real Estate Documents in Massachusetts (MCLE, 1st & 2nd [present] eds.)
- Contributor to Massachusetts Zoning Manual (MCLE, 5th ed.)
- Co-author, Massachusetts Environmental Law Handbook (Government Institutes, 3rd ed.)
- “Implications of DNA Technology on Posthumous Paternity Determination: Deciding the Facts when Daddy can’t give his Opinion”, 35 Boston College Law Review 747 (1994)
Bar and Court Admissions
Admitted to practice in Massachusetts (1995) and before the United States District Court of Massachusetts (1998)
Education
Boston College Law School JD summa cum laude, 1994
Northeastern University MBA, 1987
University of New Hampshire B.S. in Computer Science, 1981